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Saturday, September 11, 2010

" We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness"

So then... the "founding fathers" created a provision in our declaration of independence that shoudl the government no longer serve the people and their right, it is the right to abolish it right?

Think again. the constitution, unless amended, override all other laws created in the U.S., but the declaration holds no such sway over law.

In 1939, fear of communism had already begun to set in in America, and Congress passed the hatch act, a law which only has power over federal employees, most of it was concerned with preventing election fraud and the such, but then a slightly unusual clause slipped in.

Sec. 9A.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person employed in any capacity by any agency of the Federal Government, whose compensation, or any part thereof, is paid from funds authorized or appropriated by any Act of Congress, to have membership in any political party or organization which advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government in the United States.

(2) Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be immediately removed from the position or office held by him, and thereafter no part of the funds appropriated by any Act of Congress for such position or office shall be used to pay the compensation of such person.

Wait what. basically if you are employed directly or indirecly by the federal govenrment [and my derivation state and local governments and their subsidiaries like schools] you will lose your job if you support the overthrow of the current form of government.

Seeing no real resistance, Congress took the liberty of passing another law in 1940, the Smith Act [Alien registration act]
Most provisions of the law were simple about Making it mandatory for non-citizens residing in the united states to register with the federal government. this is all good and fair, but then some other clause managed to slip in
[TITLE 18>Part I>chapter 115> § 2385 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2385.html]

Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms “organizes” and “organize”, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.

Wait what. so If you even discuss or affiliate yourself or are somehow related so someone or a group that discusses the overthrow of the U.S. Government you are to be locked away for no less than 20 years, possibly fined, and become ineligible for employment by a government agency for five years after that?? Daaayum. and we still have the gall to say that we are tolerant of discussion and new ideas...

@Jack Anderson: I designed background and the header image in photoshop, the layout was made using google's template editor and a little bit of manual HTML editing

@Olivar Its in the Books. i dont think belief has much to do with it. i know it isn't veyr often invoked, but the fact that it is still law means it can be used against any citizen any time they slip up

I can say that I appreciate you bringing citations and facts to a discussion that is so regularly faced with hearsay and conjecture. Not something I choose to involve my time with, but the way you bring it up at least made me take the time to read all the info you have.